[ASA] Expected changes to APEX and VST access

[Michael Murphy]

Dear Australian ESO users,



I am Australia's representative on ESO's Scientific Technical Committee
(STC), which advises ESO about its instrumentation and operations programs.
ESO has brought two matters to the STC's attention, which I think are
important for some in the Australian community, regarding the Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) submillimetre telescope (on the Chajnantor
plateau) and the VLT Survey Telescope (VST, on Paranal).


Currently, both telescopes are ESO facilities. However, access arrangements
will likely change to both telescopes in the next 2 years: it is expected
that they will transition to "hosted telescope" status, without formal open
access to ESO members or Australia. Responsibility for these facilities
will fall back on the non-ESO consortium members who built them originally:

   - APEX is expected to become a hosted telescope in 2023. Access beyond
   that time will have to be arranged through the non-ESO APEX consortium
   partners: the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) and the
   Onsala Space Observatory (OSO).
   - VST is expected to become a hosted telescope next year (2022), with a
   firm date and on-going arrangements still under discussion. Access beyond
   2022 will likely be by negotiation with the Istituto Nazionale di
   Astrofisica (INAF) in Naples.

Astronomy Australia Limited (AAL) has indicated that support for future
access to these facilities may be considered as a "Tier 2" priority
according to its NCRIS eligibility criteria:
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/ktIgCP7LAXfKM3N3yuzw9bC?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au



So, if you would like to access these facilities in future, it will be best
to:

   1. Discuss your plans and requirements with any other potential APEX
   and/or VST users you know in the Australian community; and
   2. Jointly contact Dr. Mita Brierley <
   mita.brierley at astronomyaustralia.org.au>, AAL's Chief Business Officer,
   about your collective plans and needs for future access.

If you have questions about this, I would be happy to discuss them further,
though there is limited information available at the moment.



Best regards,



Michael.

-- 

Professor Michael T. Murphy,

ARC Future Fellow
<https://www.arc.gov.au/grants/discovery-program/future-fellowships>,
Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing,
Swinburne University of Technology,
Mail H29, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.
@MTMurphy77 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/nrSYCQnMBZfkrolozhPwFGQ?domain=twitter.com>,
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/HHIsCROND2uvB5057hP5K4O?domain=astronomy.swin.edu.au
Pho: +61 (0)3 9214 5818; Mob/Cell: +61 (0)405 214 461.
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